Tiffany Williams, of Savannah, leads her daughter, Madison, 6, through the crowded walkways of Tanger Outlet Center 1 in search of the next bargain while Christmas shopping on Friday. "So far so good," said Williams of her Black Friday shopping outing to southern Beaufort County. Jay Karr

Tiffany Williams, of Savannah, leads her daughter, Madison, 6, through the crowded walkways of Tanger Outlet Center 1 in search of the next bargain while Christmas shopping on Friday. "So far so good," said Williams of her Black Friday shopping outing to southern Beaufort County. Jay Karr

Never miss a local story.

"I was nervous and didn't know what to expect," he said. "There were definitely more people than I would have thought."

At the peak of the overnight shopping frenzy, "well over 5,000 people" were at the outlets, according to general manager LaDonna Shamlou.

Lines formed outside stores earlier than ever this year, as many local retailers opened earlier than ever.

By the time Tanger opened at 10 p.m. for its inaugural "Moonlight Madness" sale, shoppers had already been waiting for at least two hours, Shamlou said.

"Looking at the crowd last night, it's almost hard to believe we're in a recession," she said. "People were in great moods and very festive. And I've already received very encouraging preliminary reports from my tenants."

At the Best Buy just up U.S. 278 from the outlets, shoppers began lining up at 10 a.m. for the midnight opening, according to manager Zach Pickering.

By the time the doors opened -- five hours earlier than in 2010 -- the line stretched about 150 yards across six storefronts. Pickering said shoppers made a beeline for the laptops and Blu-ray players.

Pickering said his employees were holding up well after the overnight onslaught.

"We did plenty of shifting and gave them free food and drinks," he said. "But they were kept pretty busy."

Angie Sesti's night at Target in Bluffton was no different.

Leaving work at 8 a.m., Sesti said she and many of her coworkers faced unusually long walks to their cars Friday morning.

"We all had a really tough time finding parking spots last night. I got here at 9:30, and we didn't open until midnight," she said. "But by the time we got here, the lot was just packed."

Sesti said that, save for an altercation between two women over a perceived bump from a shopping cart, the night went smoothly. It helped, she said, to have plenty of food and Red Bull on hand.

Would she want to work another Black Friday?

"Absolutely," she said. "When those doors open and people start coming in, it's exciting. Time just flies."